Where to Stay in Salzburg: The Areas Compared
Both banks of the Salzach have a historic core, and both are largely car-free: the city reserved most of the left-bank and right-bank old town for pedestrians in 1983. That rule shapes the choice of where to stay in Salzburg more than any map does. The two old towns put the sights on your doorstep; the quarters near the station trade atmosphere for easy arrivals; Mülln is an old suburb to the north, and Leopoldskron lies farther out. On a first visit, the old town on either bank is the natural place to start.
The Old Town (Altstadt): Getreidegasse and the Cathedral Quarter
The left-bank Altstadt is the Salzburg most visitors picture: Getreidegasse, Salzburg Cathedral, the festival halls on Hofstallgasse and Hohensalzburg Fortress on the rock above. Staying here means stepping out of the door into the lanes and walking home after a performance at the Grosses Festspielhaus or the Felsenreitschule without thinking about transport.
The trade-offs are traffic rules and season. The lanes are a pedestrian zone, and outside the morning delivery window only permit holders can drive in, so ask an old-town hotel how check-in and parking work before you arrive by car. In July and August the Salzburg Festival fills the quarter, and in Advent the Christmas market takes over Domplatz and Residenzplatz. It's the right base for a short stay, and if the question of where to stay in Salzburg is really a question about the festival, this is the answer.
The city’s oldest guesthouse, taking in guests since 1350, on Getreidegasse facing the Festival Hall. Its 34 rooms are all different, and contemporary art hangs throughout the house.
A small luxury hotel with 16 individually designed rooms on Goldgasse, holding a Michelin Key. The Gasthof Goldgasse in the same house gives Austrian classics a creative turn.
The Right Bank: Linzergasse, Steingasse and Mirabell
Across the river, the right bank has an old town of its own. Linzergasse, the old road out of town toward Linz, is a pedestrian shopping street. Parallel to the river runs Steingasse, one of the oldest streets on this side, at the foot of the Kapuzinerberg; its houses are now mostly homes. To the north lie Mirabell Palace and the Mirabell Gardens, whose main entrance opens onto Makartplatz, across the square from the Mozart Residence.
From this bank you look across the Salzach at the old town and the fortress, and several hotels build their rooms and roof terraces around that view. The old town is one bridge away, over the Marko-Feingold-Steg (formerly Makartsteg) footbridge or the Staatsbrücke. With that view and the old town so close, this is where we'd look for a room first.
Opened in 1866 as the Österreichischer Hof and set right on the Salzach, with many rooms facing the river, the old town or the fortress. The Original Sacher-Torte is served in the hotel’s Café Sacher.
A landmarked hotel on the river whose core dates back to the Middle Ages, with 1950s fittings and Murano glass. Breakfast and drinks are served on the Steinterrasse, the rooftop on the 7th floor.
A 5-star hotel on Makartplatz, next to the Mirabell Gardens and the Salzburg State Theatre and opposite the Mozart Residence, with individually furnished rooms and suites.
71 rooms in a historic building on Linzergasse, about 450 meters from Mirabell Palace and 900 meters from the old town.
A hotel on Schallmooser Hauptstraße, five minutes on foot from the old town, with a drop-off zone out front for guests arriving by car.
Near the Main Station: Andräviertel and Elisabeth-Vorstadt
The quarters between the Mirabell Gardens and the main station grew after 1860, when the railway reached Salzburg and, soon after, the old fortifications came down. The Andräviertel, between Paris-Lodron-Straße and Gabelsbergerstraße, takes its name from St Andrew's Church (Andräkirche), built in the 1890s; north of the tracks lies Elisabeth-Vorstadt. From the station, the city center is about a 20-minute walk, and trolleybus lines 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6 get you to the old town in about 10 minutes.
When train times shape where to stay in Salzburg, this is the practical quarter: arrivals are easy, the buses leave from Südtiroler Platz right in front of the station, and rail day trips start at your door.
A family-run 4-star superior hotel on Rainerstraße, a few steps from Mirabell Palace and opposite the Congress Center. Breakfast is served in the Sky Bar & Restaurant, whose panoramic windows face the mountains and the fortress.
Run by the same family since it opened in 1959, now in its third generation, in the Andräviertel. A garden, a mostly organic breakfast and a small spa with a roof terrace.
On the Salzach near the Kapuzinerberg, with an outdoor lounge facing the river and the mountains and an interior themed on Mozart. The station and the old town are both within walking distance.
A few minutes’ walk from the main station, with single, double, family and shared rooms, each with its own bathroom, plus a guest kitchen.
Mülln, Lehen and the Mönchsberg
North of the old town, Mülln is one of Salzburg's old suburbs, a former mill village at the end of the Mönchsberg, the wooded ridge that runs along the left bank from the fortress hill to Mülln. Beer has been brewed here at the Augustiner Bräu Kloster Mülln since 1621, and the Müllnersteg footbridge crosses to the right bank. Beyond Mülln lies Lehen, one of the districts the city grew into after the railway arrived.
Evenings in Mülln are quiet, and the walks start right in the quarter. One of the footpaths up the Mönchsberg starts at Mülln Church, and the MönchsbergAufzug, a lift that runs 60 meters inside the rock, takes you down to Gstättengasse in the old town.
A 5-star superior castle hotel in its own park on top of the Mönchsberg, first documented in 1350.
A 1920s townhouse in Lehen with a café, five minutes on foot from the Salzach, 12 from the main station and 20 from Getreidegasse.
Farther Out: Schloss Leopoldskron
About two kilometers from the old town, Schloss Leopoldskron stands beside a lake. Theater director Max Reinhardt once owned the palace, scenes for The Sound of Music were filmed in its gardens, and since 1947 it has been home to Salzburg Global, a nonprofit forum. Bus 11 stops at its gates.
A base this far out is easier than it sounds: every overnight guest in the province of Salzburg receives the Guest Mobility Ticket at check-in, valid on city buses, regional buses and trains for the length of the stay.
Twelve suites in the Rococo palace and 55 contemporary rooms in the Meierhof, the former estate building beside it, each looking onto the park, the lake or the city.
When to Book
If your dates fall during the Salzburg Festival in July and August, when opera, theater and concert audiences arrive from around the world, or in Advent, when the Christmas market fills Domplatz and Residenzplatz, we'd book the room before anything else. Once you've chosen a base, our guides to things to do in Salzburg and where to eat in Salzburg cover the rest of the trip.